Everyone who works on drug related issues knows the names of the major organizations fighting to legalize and normalize drug use: Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws (NORML), the Open Society Institute (OSI) and the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). Their money and their vast numbers of supporters enable their voices to be heard above all others.

Another legalization group gaining momentum is Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). According to their mission statement, LEAP is made up of current and former members of law enforcement who believe current drug polices fail to address the problems of crime, drug abuse, and addiction. However, membership is not actually limited to those currently or formerly associated with law enforcement so even criminals can become one of their members. By continuing to fight a war on drugs, according to LEAP, the government has only increased the societal problems associated with drug use. Their idea of effective drug policy is to legalize and regulate illicit drugs.

Grassroots community efforts to battle legalization initiatives and legislation depend upon and turn to law enforcement for support in keeping illegal drugs off the street and out of the hands of our youth. With this in mind, one can only imagine the mixed message the community receives from a group like LEAP that claims to represent the mindset of law enforcement.

LEAP does not release information on its members, so it is impossible to determine how many current or past members of law enforcement their alleged 15,000 membership actually represents. what is clear is that they exploit the integrity, commitment of service, and community protection that law enforcement represents while pushing their agenda to “end prohibition” and “legalize all drugs so we can control and regulate them”.

It is imperative that we remain united to counter any and all pro-drug messages coming from groups like LEAP. Law enforcement has always been the natural ally in fighting drug use and abuse, and more importantly, law enforcement provides valuable insight into what is really happening on the streets of America’s communities. Law enforcement bears witness on a daily basis to the dangers illegal drugs impose on our nation’s youth, and law enforcement’s experiences and voices must be heard in this battle.

All things considered, high praise for LEAP! And I am struck by the fact that Fay is willing to characterize drug policy reform groups and their constituencies as the enemy, in a war that is frighteningly real. I encourage you to support all the groups listed above, and you should really consider donating to LEAP.

Criminals are members of LEAP? Wow what an idiot. The last thing drug traffickers want is legalization, so Pfizer and Johnson&Johnson can take away their meal ticket by manufacturing pot and cocaine to sell on the shelves at Walgreens.

Every official involved in the war on drugs knows, or should know, that they’re breaking their oath to defend the Constitution. None of the enumerated powers entitles Congress to ban any substance.

When the war on drugs is over, real soon now, it will not be enough. There must also be “Nuremberg trials.” Let every single legislator, cop, and judge who took any part in this unconstitutional “war” have their lives ruined as they did their victims’ lives.

When someone tries to use a strategy which is dictated by their ideology, and that strategy doesn’t seem to work, then they are caught in something of a cognitive bind. If they acknowledge the failure of the strategy, then they would be forced to question their ideology. If questioning the ideology is unthinkable, then the only possible conclusion is that the strategy failed because it wasn’t executed sufficiently well. They respond by turning up the power, rather than by considering alternatives.

“[Anti-Prohibition Group] money and their vast numbers of supporters enable their voices to be heard above all others.”

So, MPP, NORML, DPA, OSI, and LEAP together have more money, more members, and voices that are “heard above all others” when compared to NIDA, DEA, FBI, DHS, ONDCP, all state and local LEOs, prosecutors, judges, and every police union in the U.S? Ms. Fay is either incredibly stupid, a liar, or both.

As to which “voices” are heard above others, imagine being able to reproduce and inventory every single image, TV commercial, article, poster, news story, conversation, etc. having to do with drugs or addiction that you have been exposed to throughout your life. Now, make your best ballpark guess at what portion of those messages legitimize and normalize criminal prosecution/prohibition vs. those that argue against the WoD model. 99/1 maybe, 150/1? Hell, just look at the walls of any public school and you will see the “voice” of ONDCP blathering on, unopposed. Have you ever seen a NORML or LEAP poster in a public school? Are the students watching videos that question the efficacy or Constitutional validity of the WoD? Do we see TV commercials explaining that individual liberty is a central and necessary component of this constitutional republic and that infringing on individual freedoms makes our system less stable?

Ms. Fay is right about one thing: one side in this debate does have the money (taken by force) and “voice” (amplified by state power and threat of violence) to drown out the other.